North Shore Fall Colors! Fewer people, cooler temps and things
you don't see in the cities. Large numbers of migrating raptors: bald eagles,
hawks, vultures and falcons. Great opportunities to see bold
wolves on and along HWY 61.

>>Report for October 8, 2014

Fall Color Status: This is the last weekend for fall colors! It has been a great colorful fall! Try the
late season fall color
routes inland from the big lake
for aspen / poplar. Generally fall colors are best for
maple and oak from mid September into late September. Colors for
birch and poplar / aspen are last two weeks of September into
early October. Tamarack
changes to lemon yellow at the end of October into November. We report fall colors into two areas; the
lower North
Shore and upper North Shore
below.

FALL COLOR REPORT FOR LOWER NORTH SHORE
/ DULUTH AREA / HWY 61 MILE 0 TO MILE 70>>>Which is
Duluth through Little Marais, including
Tettegouche State Park, St.
Louis and Lake Counties. Current Report October 8 -
late season fall color
routes are best now, fall colors are very nice on poplar / aspen. Awesome time of year to
hike North
Shore trails and explore the area, as the leaves turn and
fall.

FALL COLOR REPORT FOR UPPER NORTH SHORE HWY 61 MILE 70 TO USA / CANADA BORDER
>>>All of Cook County from Schroeder up through Grand Portage,
Gunflint Trail and the Canadian border area. Current Report October 8 -
late season fall color
routes are best now, fall colors are very nice on poplar / aspen. Awesome time of year to
hike North
Shore trails and explore the area, as the leaves turn and
fall.

Great opportunities exist for wolf, deer,
and red fox watching at night. Bald eagles and ravens can be
seen on road kill along Hwy 61 during the day. At mile 118
September 17, wolves feeding on road kill deer on shoulder. During daylight;
ravens and bald eagles are feasting together.

Wolves in
broad daylight eating a carcass at mile 116.5 Hwy 61 [see
image to left]. More wolves has been seen past two weeks
at night and during the day around Hwy 61 mile markers 114
to 118. Wolf sightings are on a sharp increase due to over
population and lack of fear for humans. We sat and watched
this wolf for ten minutes, rolling and chewing on a dead
animal. Areas east of Grand Marais to the Brule River have
been the hot spots again this fall. Between 9pm and midnight
many wolves, red fox and
deer on Hwy 61 between Grand
Marais and
Judge Magney State Park.
Numerous road kill deer with eagles and wolves feeding can
be seen along Hwy 61 in the fall.

Watch for ticks... we've been finding very small deer ticks
on dogs and people. Hard to believe but, deer ticks are very
active during the warm fall days and often attach in the very private
body areas. Deer ticks are a recent invasive species that have
moved into North Shore areas, possibly from excessive deer
populations. (might be a good place to find an area to deer
hunt.)

Please be courteous to those that don't want to drive as
slow as you. Turn-out in a safe location and let faster traffic
pass. Not everyone is leaf looking. People live and work here
too. Thank you!

Birds
Heading South:
A west or north wind, or combination of, are the best winds for
experiencing migration. Birds get stacked up along Lake Superior
as the wind pushes them towards the Big Lake. Easier to spot
species are; bald eagles, red-tailed hawks, broad-winged hawks
and turkey vultures as they move through the area. Over 5,000
broad-wings pass over
Hawk Ridge
on many days in mid September . Fall color routes

Many types of birds migrate through the Minnesota North Shore,
particularly large number of raptors. These 'birds of prey'
include; eagles, osprey, falcons, turkey vultures, owls, hawks
and accipiters. Shore birds and waterfowl also move through the
corridor along Lake Superior. Peak time for migration is mid
September to early October. Fall color routes

>>>MORE ABOUT WINDS AND MIGRATING BIRDS... Image above was
taken at 5pm Oct 9th overlooking Grand Marais from the east.
Notice turkey vultures near center right. Migrating birds were
using the east winds to their advantage and the crazy cloud
formations made a great backdrop.
Migrating birds are numerous along the whole North Shore, with
large numbers of birds concentrated along the shorelines when
the winds are out of the north, west or combination of.
Reluctant to cross the Big Lake, migrating birds become funneled
along the shoreline and the hills along Lake Superior. Best
areas for spotting migrating birds is within 1-2 miles of the
shoreline of Lake Superior when these conditions exist.

Don't miss stopping at Hawk Ridge on your way up or down.
Read more about Hawk Ridge and other great places to view
migrating birds below...

>>>We think Hawk Ridge is the best spot for viewing migrating birds in the
Midwest!
The combination of fall colors, birds migrating over and the
great view of the Duluth Harbor is fantastic!

BROAD-WINGED HAWKS in record numbers at Hawk Ridge!
Often 1000s are counted in a single day in September. Hawk Ridge is a nature preserve dedicated to birding, and is
one of the best places in the mid-west to see migrating birds, especially raptors. "Raptors" are birds of prey, such as bald eagles and red-tailed hawks. Check out the Hawk
Ridge Web site for Public Programs, directions and a
map.

One of the more spectacular migration events is the kettles of broad-winged hawks seen from Hawk Ridge above Duluth, Minnesota. During the fall these football sized raptors/birds of prey are in large numbers called "kettles."
From approx. August 25th -
September 30th the BWHs gather together and form what looks like a moving tornado.

There are two other, less known places to view the migration, the first one is 2
miles up the Gunflint Trail/County Road 12 out of Grand Marais.
The Pincushion Mountain Recreation Area is a right-hand
turn onto County Road 53. It has a large parking area and is a paved road,
off of the Gunflint Trail/County Road 12. Nice place with trails
for Mtn. biking and hiking. The second one is just west of
Pincushion along the same bluff overlooking Grand Marais, the
Old Ski Hill Area/Sawtooth Bluff. Turn west/left
onto County Road
64, about 2 1/2 miles from Grand Marais or less than a 1/2 mile after the
Pincushion Mountain Recreation Area turn. Once you're on
County Road 64 it is about 2 miles all the way to the end, where
there is a great view of Grand Marais and Lake Superior. You'll
see numerous communication towers near the parking areas.

The Birch
Lake Dam
The Birch Lake Dam is located on the South Kawishiwi River, this is Ely area ornithologist, Bill Tefft's all time favorite location for birdingâ€”and Bill has
birded across the region for more than 25 years. The area which
was first mentioned in one of the oldest guides to birding in
Minnesota, has been a hot spot for literally decades. Tefft says
it is still one of the most dependable birding spots in the
area. Lots of morning sun attracts the warblers, flycatchers and
other birds. Water is right there, so waterfowl can be counted
on. You can even walk along the dike that extends on either side
of the dam for a better look at the surrounding treetops.
Adjacent is a gravel road which is also a birder's fun spot to
check out.

Leaves change color due to shifting rhythm of the day and night. The long warm
days of summer eventually turn shorter and cooler, which triggers a chemical
clock inside the deciduous tree to enter winter sleep or dormancy. Deciduous
means "a tree with leaves instead of needles."

During
the summer months the color or "pigment" of leaves are mostly
green from the chlorophyll which the tree is abundantly producing. But as fall
approaches the tree enters dormancy and stops producing food and chlorophyll. As the amount of chlorophyll diminishes,
a group of pigments called carotenoids start to show. Carotenoids are the
yellow, brown and orange colors we see during fall.

Deciduous
trees on the North Shore are mainly; sugar maple, aspen [aka poplars], paper birch, ash, silver maple,
tamarack ( a deciduous coniferous tree ) and some black cherry and oaks. Trees with needles are called conifers,
on the North
Shore conifers are mainly; balsam fir, white spruce, white pine, red pine, jack pine,
and white cedar. The tamarack appears to be a species of evergreen during the
growing season, but, in fact, is deciduous, making a late-season color change to
lemon yellow and dropping it's needle looking leaves as the snow begins to fly in November.

Autumn is the best
time for being out-of-doors. The bugs have pretty much died off and the
days are still warm, and the nights are cool, great for hiking, paddling, biking,
birding, sailing or
driving the North Shore of Lake Superior.